Whispers in the Dark
by khaleesimaka
Summary: These are the nights he craves – the nights he saviors on his darkest of days – because they don't happen very often. The silence between them is welcoming, mystical as she continues to dream and he doesn't dare fall asleep.


He knows he loves her.

The moonlight seeping in through his window illuminates her pale back as she faces away from him, her sides gently rising and falling as she continues to sleep. Her hair is plastered against the pillow, fanned out and circling her head like a halo. She's beauty and mystery rolled in; a porcelain doll he's careful with and doesn't want to taint or break. Maka's everything he wanted and then some. The girl who was only supposed to be his roommate – his best friend – has somehow become so much more since they first met.

Soul knows her better than he knows anyone else. He knows when she's angry or frustrated without saying it. The silent nights she stays cooped up in her room with the lamp light faintly shining beneath her door are hints that she's overthinking. Sometimes Soul wants to comfort her during those times, tell her it'll be alright, but he also knows that isn't what she wants. Maka's the type of person who needs to come to him when she's ready to talk; he can't push her into talking about things she isn't ready for yet.

Tentatively closing the distance between them, Soul runs his hand down her back as he marks the scars that rest there. He maps them out like constellations in the sky, remembering how they look against her skin and wondering about the stories they hold. Maka's muscles tense and relax when she moves, roll when she adjusts herself on the bed. These are the nights he craves – the nights he saviors on his darkest of days – because they don't happen very often. The silence between them is welcoming, mystical as she continues to dream and he doesn't dare fall asleep.

Maka had one rule when she moved in with him: don't fall in love with her.

Now he knows he's in danger because he had done exactly that. Over the nights when the moan of his name filled his room, a cry of pleasure and want, he had found himself falling for the girl beside him. It was dangerous, he knew that, but it was instantaneous. The moment she walked through his door and made residence in the spare bedroom, he knew he was in trouble. When he first saw her walking around in her pajamas completely free of the clothes he was used to, he knew his actions were going to be unwarranted. On the night she first came to bed with him and kissed him – a kiss between friends – that turned into more, he knew they had treaded into the deep end.

From the moment Soul first entered her, he knew he was going to love her.

Maka wasn't the type of girl who strives for a relationship in her life or goes searching for a life partner. She had made it clear early on in their friendship that she was looking for a friend. Looking back on their history, he wishes he had told her no, sent her back to her room to care for herself, because this isn't what he wanted. Unlike her, he craves the love and affection that she gave him; his gentle touches and kisses mean more to him than they do for her. Soul wants to be in a relationship with her more than anything.

He wants the companionship of a girlfriend, the comfort of a best friend, and the love of someone who loves him back. But Maka was never that girl for him no matter how much he told himself she was. Maka's the complete opposite of what he wants in life, and he knows if they continue their late night activities he'll only dig himself in deeper. When it came to Maka Albarn he was only asking for trouble, he knows that, but he also can't find it in himself to stop their kissing and touching and love making.

Her nails scraping pictures along his back, leaving their mark against his skin, drives him to continue their actions. The moans and mewls she releases when he hits a weak spot make his mind go up a wall with want and desire. When she whispers his name in his ear it only fuels the fire that burns within him. Soul wants her – all of her – but he'll never have all of her because her heart is guarded. Their lovemaking is for a whole other reason for her; she sees it as a comfort, a stress reliever while he sees it as romantic, an expression of true love. A one-sided relationship with Maka Albarn is dangerous, but he never finds it in himself to care or to stop it.

Every time she enters his bedroom, he wants more of her.

She's heaven and hell – a daydream and a nightmare – but he's in love and it's dangerous.

Snuggling up to her, he wraps his hand around her waist and gently pulls her back toward him. He molds their bodies together, closes his eyes, and pretends they're a real couple, that she isn't smoke that will disappear once morning comes. That when he wakes the next day she'll smile at him and pretend the previous night never happened. It breaks his heart that she prefers to keep their activities in his bedroom and not outside, but he can live with it. Having Maka in his arms was better than her being in someone else's.

Soul buries his face in her hair, the citrusy smell filling his nostrils, and whispers, "I love you," against her before slowly drifting off to sleep.

Once his breathing evens out and she knows he's asleep, Maka opens her eyes and stares out into the darkness of his room. Her heart aches because she knows the games she plays with him pains him – pains her – but he's a man and all men are the same in her book. They all want sex and boobs and booze and a girl to cuddle up next to when they go to bed; they don't care if they're someone different every time. To men it's all the same.

But even then she knows Soul is different.

Soul has stayed single during the entire time she started their late night activities; from the moment she first crawled into bed with him and kissed his neck, his lips had never touched anyone else's. He was reliable and trustworthy – the only man she wanted to sleep with – and she was hurting him. Yes, she wanted to be with him for a long time and that was the only reason she decided to have sex with him, but now she wants more.

She wants to be wrap up in his arms when they were lounging on the couch, joke about the cliche romance film they were watching while stealing kisses from each other, and go out on dates when they were done with work. Maka wants to be a real couple with Soul, but she had lost her chance long ago. By now it's too late to make amends and change her mind about the whole dating thing; she's done her damage already. He knows she doesn't believe in love or any of that sappy romance.

At least, she didn't before.

Now with him, she does believe it because he makes her mind race when he wears sweats in their kitchen and leans up to grab something for her. She finds herself staring longer at the white trail on his lower abdomen, imagining her fingers twirling the hairs around. Maka thinks of the things they can do when they aren't in his bed; of waking up and kissing his back while makes them pancakes. She wants to hold him around the middle as he lazily flips their breakfast and rubs little circles along her hand. She wants him – all of him – but she can never have him.

It's only when they're wrapped up in each others arms like this, her name whispered against her lips as he slides in and out of her, that she can truly have him.

Maka can stop their hobby, push him to go date other girls, but she's selfish. She wants Soul all to herself rather than with someone who isn't her; she doesn't want to see him eating ice cream in his pjs with another girl on their couch. It's her that she wants him to do those things with. To kiss her when she does something that makes him happy, to touch the small of her back when they go out grocery shopping. Her. Her. Her.

She wants it to be her.

But it will never be her because she's an idiot.

Sighing, Maka fights back the tears that prick her eyes, ignores the ache in her heart, and the flutter in her stomach because Soul loves her. He loves her, and yet she has hurt him this entire time. Being with him like this, making him believe his feelings are unrequited, has brought heartache to the poor boy she never intended to hurt. She wishes time travel were real so she could chide her past self on the mistakes she was going to make. To change the history that had already occurred.

"I love you, too," she sobs out to no one but the darkness.

For one brief second Soul's arm tightens around her, and he's reminded of why he finds it difficult to fall asleep as his mind groggily wakes up. Her words barely touch his ears, but his heart tells him that he didn't mistake them.

"Maka?" he asks.

She stiffens in his arms, and her heart pounds against her chest. Worry and fear boil up in her stomach as the sound of her voice scrapes against her ears. He couldn't have heard her – there was no possible way. He must be waking up just that minute because there was no way he heard her.

"Maka, are you awake?"

Curse that boy and his insomnia.

"Soul, I thought you were asleep," she says while turning around slightly to see him.

"I was, but then I woke up. Must not have been a sound sleep." Soul takes in a deep breath, stretches out his muscles before asking the question that burns on the tip of his tongue. "Did you say something before?"

"Um, no. Why? Did you hear something?"

He purses his lips slightly at her obvious lie. "You sure? Sounded like you said something?"

"No," she shakes her head, "I didn't say anything. Must have been the wind."

"Ah," is all he says and her heart crumbles a little bit more. Why can't she just be honest with the poor boy? "Well, gonna try to catch some sleep. Night, Maka."

"Night, Soul." She hesitates as she feels him get comfortable again the bed before flipping over to face him. "Wait, before you do, there's something I wanna talk to you about."

Soul blinks a couple times before nodding. "Shoot."

Licking her lips, she breathes out shakily. His sanguine gaze seems darker in the shade of the moonlight, giving them a more inquisitive expression that sends a chill down her spine and an ache between her legs. She's a goner – she knows she is – and it doesn't help that the man she's in love with his handsome.

"I wanted to talk to you about this, what we do at night, because it doesn't feel right."

His heart drops at her words, and he fears the worst even having heard what she said earlier. But he allows her to continue instead of interrupting her and putting a halt to what she wants to say.

"I mean, it does feel right, but it doesn't feel right with our current situation. And, ugh, that doesn't make sense, but what I'm trying to say is that I don't think we should remain like this as just friends. At least, we shouldn't if we're gonna be sleeping with each other. I know I had told you before that I didn't believe in love or relationships in general, but I think I do now. You make me believe that they can work, and if it's with you then I'm sure it won't fuck up at the end." Maka pauses. "Are you following what I'm saying?"

He smiles because he knows exactly what she's talking about, but she's take the long route to get there. Typical Maka. "Are you in love with me?"

Maka squeaks, and Soul sees her cheeks redden in the moonlight. "That's not what I said!"

"That's what you said before, though." He laughs lowly, and her stomach churns with the familiar warmth and adoration she had felt countless times before. "I heard you. You said you loved me too."

"So maybe I did say that, so what?" she mumbles, her head bowing down and away from his watchful eyes. "My point was that I think we should… We should maybe–"

"Maybe get together?" he offers.

"Don't finish my sentences for me."

"Maka, if you wanna get together, just say it! There's no need to beat around the fucking bush! Spit out, Maka!"

"I don't wanna be just friends who sleep with each other occasionally anymore!" she whisper shouts. "I'm tired of keeping this only in the bedroom, and I know it's been hurting you! I want us to be a real couple who goes out on dates and steal kisses on the couch! I want you to cook breakfast in the morning while I lean against you and we just stand there enjoying the others company! I don't want to be just friends; I want us to be together because I'm in love with you."

Her gaze pulls up to look at him, and her green eyes glimmer in the moonlight as tears stain her face. Soul brushes them away with the back of his hand while Maka leans into his touch, a content sigh escaping her lips.

"I trust you above everyone else, and I know you aren't gonna cheat on me or lie to me. You aren't like other men, Soul. You aren't like papa, and I've fallen in love with you because of that."

Soul smiles to himself before leaning over and softly kissing her lips. He rests his forehead on hers, tugs her closer to him, and wrapping her leg around his waist to make sure they're as near to each other as possible. He wants to remember this moment – the moment she confessed that loved him – and make the best out of it because it's all he ever wanted. All he ever dreamed of. Nothing made him happier than she did in that moment.

"Good. Because I've fallen in love with you, too. I wanna be with you more than anyone else in this god damn world. I love you, Maka."

Maka smiles and laughs because that's what she had wanted to hear for a very long time. She wants to love and be loved in return, and she knows Soul is that person. He isn't going to leave her for someone else, isn't going to leave the country; he's going to be there for her no matter what.

"I love you, too, Soul."


End file.
